The rest of the week was a tense one for Lilith, mostly due to the fact that Carmen refused to talk. Or remake a physical body. Or do anything, which worried Lilith to no end. The most Lilith got out of her was a couple of short, terse replies that amounted to “later”. Lilith had, of course, gone to Kali, but Kali had just said that Carmen was mentally sound, and that if she didn’t want to talk then they probably shouldn’t force her.

Elenoa took to being locked up about as well as Lilith expected. That was to say, she was constantly trying to escape, constantly spouting vitriol towards those bringing her food, occasionally attacking them, and all around being an enormous headache. Eventually, they decided to stop bringing her food in-person, and just deposited it via dungeon right in front of her.

She wasn’t treated poorly, of course. The food was good enough, Elenoa had a rather decent bed, a private and fully-functional bathroom, and a TV for entertainment, not that she used it. It was probably better than she deserved, but Lilith didn’t see the point in being unnecessarily cruel; she was technically just in holding until the trial, after all.

Lilith had given notices to those she had chosen for the jury, mostly high-ranking politicians and religious leaders, then spent the rest of week trying and failing to relax. Training just…wasn’t going well with how distracted she was, and the teachers weren’t going to force Carmen to come out, so Lilith ended up lying around the dungeon most of the time. She knew it wasn’t good for her, but…well, she just couldn’t help it.

The other Parallels all found something to do, though. Mae seemed largely unaffected and was training as normal. Eve acted tough, but Lilith could tell that she was also bothered by Carmen’s behavior, if not to the same extent Lilith was. Unlike Lilith, however, Eve chose to disappear into her training, even opting to sleep, eat, and do just about everything else in the other plane. And Nuwa continued her work with the dungeon, pace even more frantic than it already was. From what Lilith could gather, Nuwa blamed herself to an extent, feeling guilty that she hadn’t had a support force ready by the time it was needed.

For their part, everyone around Lilith tried to cheer her up. Thiala and Raphael tried to drag her into all sorts of games, her parents and Judy tried to talk things through with her, Emily…well, she mostly just took care of Lilith’s needs, fetching and cleaning the area around Lilith, constantly hovering around on the off chance Lilith wanted something.

Lilith hadn’t really gotten to know Emily well, and wasn’t particularly in the mood to get to know her more. According to Emily, she was being so much more…present now because she had used the past month to finish her studies, and now she was ready to begin full-time maid duty. She had been for some time, actually, but Lilith wasn’t around much, so she had chosen to devote that time to getting stronger and progressing her Class instead of standing around doing nothing.

As for the others, Alex and Vithi had let Lilith know their doors were always open if she wanted to talk, and Kirdin was away for the time being, having been dragged off by Tiamat after Lilith’s parents had learned humanization.

Which just left Kali, who would drop by whenever she wasn’t busy. She was, apparently, tutoring Judy now, so that wasn’t quite as often as it used to be, but she still spent a solid chunk of time with Lilith over the week. For the most part, she tried to keep Lilith’s mind on other things, but she could only do so much.

And so, Lilith was actually really relieved when the day of the trial came. Her hope was that, after this, Carmen would open up and be willing to…do things again, so she wanted this done as soon as possible. She had Mae gather the jurors, made sure the audience hall was set up for court, brought Elenoa in, and then started trial.

“To begin with,” she said, “Know that this will not be conducted the same as many other trials. I will bring evidence forward, and Elenoa will respond to it how she may. She will be subject to a lie detector spell cast by one of the jurors, which will respond whenever she says anything she believes to be untrue. Should I feel the need to bring up a counter argument or clarify details, I will, but as there is irrefutable evidence for many of her crimes, proving them will not be the main focus. This hearing is simply to make sure all evidence is publicly brought to light, so that all may see what those crimes are.”

Lilith cleared her throat, then continued. “To that end, I will open with reading out a list of the crimes she has been charged with. Who among the jury is capable of casting a lie detector?” She waited, then motioned at Tunem, who had raised his hand. “Then if you would, juror Tunem.”

A few seconds later, a green orb appeared next to Elenoa. “This will turn red and buzz when she lies.”

“Thank you, Tunem. Now, Elenoa, you are charged with attempted murder. How do you plead?”

“Not guilty.” Elenoa said confidently.

The orb turned red and buzzed.

“I would advise you do not attempt to lie further, lest you be found in contempt of court. Would you care to revise that statement?”

Elenoa grit her teeth. “Guilty.” This time, the orb remained green.

“You have also been charged with unlawful use of mind altering magic. How do you plead?”

Elenoa hesitated, then responded. “Guilty.”

“Furthermore, you are charged with unethical manipulation of religion. How do you plead?”

Elenoa raised an eyebrow. “I do not believe that is a crime.”

“There is no proper term to describe the sheer scope of what you have done in this regard. To this extent, I have made it a crime for this specific situation. Now, how do you plead?”

“Not guilty.” The orb remained green.

Lilith continued. “You are charged with the unlawful disclosure of personal information. How do you plead?”

“Not guilty.” There was, again, no response.

“And, finally, you have been charged with incitement to rebel. How do you plead?”

“Guilty.” She replied, without even a moment’s hesitation.

Lilith nodded to herself. “With that out of the way, we may begin in earnest. Will you please tell everyone your reason for attempting to kill me?”

“I wished to see your unreasonable restrictions lifted and to restore freedom from your tyranny to the governments of the world.”

The orb stayed green, and Lilith frowned. “And why would you wish my restrictions lifted? As far as I’m aware, I have simply forbidden outright war or annexation for the period of a few years. I do not believe that should be too unreasonable.”

“I just want governments to have the freedom to choose whether or not they want that war or annexation. It is not your place to be meddling in our affairs.”

As the orb was staying resolutely green, Lilith decided to change the way she was approaching this. “And what would you have done, had those restrictions been lifted?”

“Strengthen relationships with the governments of Earth, of course.”

“Would you have attempted to seize any sort of power from them?”

“Of course not.” The orb buzzed immediately, and Elenoa scowled.

“Would you have tried to annex any countries you could? And remember, if you lie, I will find you in contempt of court and you will receive extra sentencing on top of what you will be assigned.”

Elenoa thought about it for a moment, then spoke. “I believe that many would in the situation, yes, but that does not necessarily include me.”

“That was a yes or no question, Elenoa. Pick one and be concrete about it. No hypotheticals.”

Elenoa glared at her, and eventually gave a “yes”.

“Was wishing to annex those countries a factor in trying to kill me? Yes or no.”

“May I say that we have no guarantees as to the accuracy of this lie detector?” Elenoa said, glancing around. “It could well be rigged to make me look bad.”

“That is not the case.” One of the jurors, the chief justice of Canada’s Supreme Court, said. “My Class has a lie detector and it has yet to have any inconsistencies with the spell.”

There was a chorus of agreement from the jurors who had similar abilities. They had been among the easiest to persuade to appear on the jury – as High Arbiter, all with legal Classes automatically recognized her as the highest authority (at least in terms of the law), and they had generally been pretty willing to assist with her trial.

“The lie detector is there for the sake of those not present in the room today, and they may take it how they will.” Lilith said. “But everyone present knows full well it is accurate, so do not bring up the subject again. I repeat, was wishing to annex those countries a factor in trying to kill me?”

“Yes.” Elenoa responded, keeping up her glare.

Lilith nodded. “I believe that’s all that needs to be said in this regard. Moving on, I’ve called Winston here today so that we may receive his testimony.”

Winston had woken up from unconsciousness after a day and had been more than happy to oblige when Lilith asked him to testify against Elenoa in front of the world. This part of the trial was relatively straightforward, and Elenoa had little to no room to explain away her actions.

After that, they moved on to the topic of her manipulation of religion. “Elenoa, have you or have you not been appearing to Earth’s religious leaders under the guise of being God’s messenger?”

“I have, and I still fail to see the crime in this.”

There were cries of alarm from the religious figures among the jurors. These had been the hardest to get on the jury, thanks to Elenoa’s work. She had ended up having to force most of them to come, and up until now they had been visibly discontented with being there. Now, however, she could see some of their attitudes beginning to shift.

“To further illustrate this point, I am ordering you to show your Messenger Form to the world.”

“That is classified information.” Elenoa growled.

“As are plans to annex other countries. Do it now or be held in contempt of court.”

“Fine.” Elenoa shifted into the glowing cube that was her Messenger Form, prompting a round of gasps from the religious leaders.

Lilith turned to the jury. “I’m afraid to tell you that Elenoa has been the one visiting you these past years.” She said gently. “Most, if not all, of what she has fed you has been aimed at furthering her own goals. What you choose to do with this information is up to you, but I recommend taking a serious look at what she’s said and determine whether or not it’s something you should really be doing.”

She turned back to Elenoa, face hardening. “While we are on this subject, were you or were you not a major player in a slander campaign aimed towards demons?”

“Yes.”

“Are demons inherently evil, as you have portrayed them in said campaign?”

“No.”

“To finish off, do you deny manipulating the religions of earth?”

Elenoa frowned. “No. What’s your point?”

“That being said, you have also denied unethical manipulation of religion. Would you care to explain why you would consider your actions ethical?”

She shrugged. “If you ask me, most of what they were spouting was garbage anyway, so I figured I might as well put it to productive use. Public service, really.”

There were some strangled noises of fury from the juror’s benches, but they were quickly silenced.

“Very well then. Moving on, unlawful disclosure of personal information. Did you or did you not leak the private coordinates of the other Council member’s planes, as well as information that would prove useful in manipulating them, to the Queen of the Faeries?”

Elenoa pointedly refrained from looking at the juror’s bench when she said yes.

“And why, may I ask, do you say that this was a lawful action?”

“The country was in a state of emergency, and I was acting for its good. In such a situation, as the de-facto head of the Council, such restrictions are relaxed on me.”

“Were you acting more for the country’s sake, or your own?”

“I do not see the distinction.” Elenoa said calmly. “As its leader in these times of emergency, what is good for me is good for the country.”

Lilith raised an eyebrow. “I disagree, and I’m sure many of the jury will as well. But I won’t press the issue any further than asking if you, in your private musings, were thinking in terms of the country’s gain, or if you were treating it as your own first and foremost.”

Elenoa opened her mouth, glanced at the orb, then seemed to change what she was about to say. “It was in terms of my own gain.”

“Very well then. Finally, incitement to rebel. Were there any motivations in your actions aside from those we have already covered today?”

Elenoa shook her head. “No, and there doesn’t need to be. I would like to remind everyone watching that you are, technically, still living under restrictions decided unilaterally by one person who has no accountability to anyone. Even if her laws seem benign now, there is no guarantee that she won’t attempt to impose something malicious later. You all are willingly walking the path to your own ruin.”

“I can assure you that that situation will never come to pass.” Lilith said coldly. “And, as a correction, I am held accountable by the administrator herself, and I trust that, should I ever become corrupted, she will remove me from my office herself. Do you have anything further to say.”

“No.”

“In that case, we will give the jury an hour to deliberate, and will reconvene then to discuss punishment.”

Lilith had Kali cut the broadcast, and stood up, walking down to the main floor. She grabbed Elenoa, then nodded towards the jury. “We’ll give you some privacy. Be done in an hour on the dot. If you’re not, then I will take from amongst your suggested punishments the one I see most fit. Should you not have any, I will give punishment myself.” She then teleported Elenoa back to her cell and retreated to her own room to wait.

After an hour had passed, she once again brought Elenoa into the courtroom, and resumed the broadcast. “We are ready to hear the sentence, jury. Please have a representative tell it to us.”

Mary Davidson, president of the United States, stood up. “For her many crimes, we have given her a multifaceted sentence. First, she is to issue a formal apology to the world, along with a detailed list of modifications she has made to Earth’s history and culture. The government of Haven will also be providing the original history, to be published freely online. Second, Elenoa is to be removed from office, and banned from any further governmental positions of any sort. If she is found to be in violation of this ban, or is otherwise attempting to influence politics, she is to be immediately sentenced to death, with no further trial.”

President Davidson took a breath, then continued. “Finally, she is to be assigned 1,000 years of work as a healer. She will heal any and all comers free of charge, and access is not to be restricted by anyone. During this time period, she will be paid a living wage by the government of her place of residence and is not allowed to take any other work. Should she attempt to break those terms, she is again to be immediately sentenced to death. Additionally, weekly reports on her status are to be provided to the High Arbiter by the government of her place of residence. Is this satisfactory?”

Lilith nodded. “That will do. I will work with the Council and will give an announcement with more details when they have been decided.” She looked at Elenoa. “Any words you would like to say before we dismiss the court?”

“You’re all making a mistake!” She spat. “I was your greatest choice for prosperity, not this woman. You’ll live to regret this, mark my words!”

“Again, I disagree, but I suppose you are entitled to your opinion. Dismissed.”

Once the broadcast was shut off, she turned to the assembled jurors. “I will be bringing you back home now. For those of the Council, I will be leaving Elenoa in your care for the time being and will meet you in your offices tomorrow at noon to further discuss the situation. Are there any other questions?

There were none. Lilith sent everyone on their way, then returned once again to her room.

Carmen? She asked.

Tomorrow. After your meeting.

And that was all the response she got. Despite any further prodding, Carmen remained resolutely silent. Lilith let out a deep sigh, then began once again to wait.

Fighterman481

Just a reminder that I still want to do a Q&A and your due date for questions is before the next arc starts. This arc ends next chapter, and there are two sort of side chapters between arcs, so there's like...four weeks I think?

The trial was a bit of a hard one to write. I straddled the line between 'actual court' and 'fake court', leaning heavily (heavily) towards fake court, but I at least tried to make charges as realistic as possible. I looked for quite a while for one that would fit her tampering with religion, and as there is obviously no real world precedence of what she's done in that regard, ended up making one myself.

I also struggled with how "accurate" the lie detector would be, mostly in determining what Elenoa could reasonably call the "truth" but is nothing more than a half truth at best.

Case in point, I almost had the lie detector not pick anything up when she claimed not guilty for attempted murder, and was going to have her claim it was an act of war or something and not technically murder under the law, but decided that, no, she wasn't thinking about it in those terms, so the detector would trip.

I also tried to strike a line between defiance and trying to make things better for herself and not being stupid and lying at every opportunity. I hate it when people in media make obvious lies when everyone knows they're lying and they just dig themselves in deeper, because it feels stupid, but Elenoa also really feels like she would try that sort of thing if the threat of punishment wasn't over her head. That faulty lie detector argument could still work (and probably will for some people), as the only assurance those people would have is the fact that other people said it was working.

That never is good enough for conspiracy theorists IRL, so you can bet there are some in-universe that think the whole trial is a farce.

And, speaking of, I feel like lie detector magic would be pretty standard in courts of law. It only makes sense, given the magic is likely to be far more reliable than actual lie detectors.

Re: Elenoa's sentence. Just death would have been easy and likely deserved, but I feel like this is a better one. It removes her from attempting to gain power again and actually has her do some sort of repairing the damage she's done. I know people want blood but...I sort of feel like blood isn't enough. And, to be honest, Elenoa would rather die than have this. If she died, at least she could die a martyr.

Haven's not really big on the death sentence (as such) anyway given their general lack of people, so their compromise was usually putting "death row"-type prisoners on wall duty, fighting with Isa to keep Haven safe. It was effectively a death sentence for most, and as they were under Isa, escaping wasn't really in the cards either. Some tried, but...well, let's just say that Isa was just as happy fighting people as she was monsters.

So...yeah. Next time we get to find out the deal with Carmen, and then we'll be ending off the arc, so look forward to it!

And, as always, thanks for reading!